Cuttlefish

So I just turned to my zone leader and asked him for a Subject line for this email.  He told me "Cuttlefish"  So now you have it.

This week has been awesome!  Thursday I gave a training to my District on the importance of the Book of Mormon in the work that we do as missionaries.  Later that day, after so many lessons cancelled on us, we finally had one that worked, and we taught Alyssa.  Part of the lesson was reading in the Book of Mormon and asking her to read from it daily. She agreed and then came Saturday with questions that she had from what she had read. It was great to see how she took the invitation and ran with it.  She is doing so awesome.  I love working with the Chinese people here in Edmonton.  They are so great, and there are truly those who are prepared to hear the Gospel.  We spend our time trying to find those and to help them, and I am grateful for the chance I have to serve among them.

The rest of the week was good as well, although we had lots of lessons cancel on us because of midterms.  It was less good, but we still have great plans for this week.

I love you all!  Hope you are doing well!

Thanksgiving and a Baptism!

This week has been so awesome!  There have been three awesome things that happened this week.

I'll start off with the non-spiritual, Canadian Thanksgiving, although we still somehow find a way to make it spiritual.  Elder Liu and I had a great Thanksgiving, we spent the day baking a turkey.  That is the first time either Elder Liu or I have ever attempted anything on that scale.  And despite a lack of resources, time, and expertise in the matter, the turkey turned out not half bad.  And we still have a ton of it left over.  So we will be eating and sharing turkey for days to come.

Now, onto a more Spiritual note, today we had the opportunity once again to attend the temple!  I am so thankful to have a temple so close by.  The blessings of the temple are amazing, and I always learn something new, every time I go.  This time was super awesome because Elder Liu and I stayed a little longer to complete the Initiatory work for a few of a sister missionary's ancestors.  It was great to participate in that ordinance, it has been almost a year since I have had the opportunity, and I loved every minute.

Finally, my favorite thing from this week spans two days.  On Saturday, we got to witness the baptism of one of our investigators, Hanson!  He was so excited to be baptized and I was so glad to see him taking this step to follow Christ.  I am so glad to be sharing this message with the Mandarin speakers of Edmonton, and the opportunity I have to help those I meet come unto Christ.  But that's not all!  On Sunday, I had the special privilege of confirming Hanson a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and giving him the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  It was such a special experience, and a bit of a nerve wracking one, as I was asked to do so in Mandarin!  Part of the ordinance includes a blessing as directed by the Spirit, and I have very little experience in English let alone Chinese!  It was such a great experience though, and I really felt the Spirit working through me as I spoke to Hanson for his Father in Heaven.

I am so grateful for the experiences that I am having here, I am so grateful for all the blessings that God has poured out  upon me and my family.  I love you all!

P.S. I will send pictures when I can get them off of the camera.  Bye!

General Conference

This week obviously was Conference!  I loved Conference so much!  My absolute favorite talk was Elder Stanfill's talk during the Saturday Afternoon Session of Conference.  I loved the message of hope that he gave, and the inspiration he gave to overcome doubts.

Elder Holland's talk on Mothers was also so great!  I am so grateful for my mother who continues to nurture me and lift me up when I get discouraged.  My mother is the greatest in the world! (I know everyone says that, but seriously she is.)

The rest of this week has been a great build up to Conference.  Elder Liu and I met 4 new people playing badminton that we are trying to meet with regularly.  Badminton is so much fun!  I loving playing and getting to know the Chinese people in Edmonton.  Its funny to see how high a percentage of the people playing badminton are Asians. And how surprised they are when a Canadian/American can speak Chinese.  Its lots of fun to see the different reactions.

I am so grateful for the chance I have to serve in Edmonton, Canada, even if its starting to get cold!  And let me tell you, its starting to get cold.  It has been about 5 degrees Celsius most days recently.  And finally, I get to unpack my winter gear.  I had tried to keep it packed in anticipation for transfers, which are this week.  Elder Liu and I are still serving together, making a whopping total of 5 transfers together at the end of this next one.  I am so glad to be serving with him still. He and I do great work, and we are excited to see how the work continues to progress.

This week we also got to see Hugh, a member in the last area I served, who is moving to Fort St. John.  We are going to miss him so much!  But we are happy to see how solid he is in the gospel!

Hugh and Elder Ethington